Hesperia City Council to discuss proposed rate increases for waste pick up

Friday

Jun 2, 2017 at 8:28 AMJun 22, 2017 at 1:27 PM

Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

HESPERIA — The City Council will conduct a public hearing to discuss Advance Disposal’s proposed maximum monthly rate increases for the collection, hauling and processing of solid waste.

If the Hesperia Council approves the new rate adjustments, which are allowed annually up to five years, the new rates will go into effect on or after July 1, with possible increases each July until 2022.

The regular residential monthly rate of $26.96, which is billed every two months, would increase by 37 cents bi-monthly, or a $4.44 increase per year under the new adjustment.

“Even with the increase, waste pick up is the cheapest of all our utilities,” Mayor Paul Russ told the Daily Press. “Because of inflation and the rising cost to do business, they have to do rate increases. They are entitled to based on their contract that was signed years ago.”

Under the franchise agreement, the company may request future increases annually based on the Consumer Price Index for the “Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside-Orange County area” for the period of September to August of the preceding year.

This year, the increase is a result of a “landfill and cost of living increase,” according to Luisa Quintero, the company’s recycling analyst and community relations specialist.

Other requests may also be based on “tipping” or disposal fees charged by San Bernardino County. The fee is charged for the amount of waste disposed at a landfill, according to Waste Management, Inc.

Under the waste company’s proposal, there are over 100 “COLA & Tipping Fee” rate adjustments, which range from a 6-cent increase for an additional tan 95-gallon barrel, to a .46-cent increase for special pick up.

According to Quintero, regular residential rates in 2014-15 were $26.79, with a 26-cent increase the following year and a 10-cent decrease last year.

Notices informing Hesperia residents of the proposed fees and public hearing were mailed out to “all property owners and all residents,” with the city using a mailing list from the County Assessor’s Office to reach property owners. The city also sent out the notice to “every residence through bulk mail,” Hesperia spokeswoman Rachel Molina told the Daily Press.

The notices also invited residents to create written protests and mail or deliver them to the city in time for the public hearing on June 20, according to Molina.

The public notices state the Council will not adopt the rate increases if written protests are presented by a majority — over 50 percent — of parcel owners or tenants of Advance Disposal.

Only written protests will be counted and oral protests presented at the hearing will be heard but not counted, the city stated.

Caudil said he does not believe the trash company’s rate request should be based on the CPI from the Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside-Orange County area.

“We’re the High Desert, we shouldn’t be compared to Los Angeles, Orange County or any other location down the hill,” Caudil said. “The High Desert has it’s own unique culture, with lots of people out of work or driving down the hill for work."

Caudil said the city should have mailed out rate increase notices with a “simple reply yes or no” postcard so “residents and trash customers” could "check a box and drop it in the mail.”

Written protests can be mailed or dropped off at the Hesperia City Clerk’s Office, 9700 Seventh Avenue. For more information, call 760-947-1000 or visit www.cityofhesperia.us.

Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, RDeLa Cruz@VVDailyPress.com or on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.